Is this a good film? No... it's
a classic, one of the best, a seminal moment in Kung Fu Cinema. This film
can accurately be traced back to the beginning of Jackie Chan's domination
of the Hong Kong movie scene. After this film, a new heir to the King of
Kung Fu was born - a seat vacant since Bruce Lee's unfortunate death in
1973. This film was made in 1978, produced by Ng See Yuen and directed by
Yuen Woo Ping. People may have heard of Yuen Woo Ping after his involvement
in ..... - well to be honest you really should know by now which films he's
done, unless a closet has been your home for the past 3 years. Against the
advice of fellow directors and producers, Yuen cast Jackie Chan as the star
of this movie (Chien Fu), who was loaned to Seasonal Films after appearing
in some low budget, and poorly directed Lo Wei movies, that flopped at the
box office. The film was an instant hit, and took HK $2.7m, outperforming
classics such as Five Venoms, Invincible Shaolin and Born Invincible that
year (and convinced Lo Wei to release all the Jackie movies he had previously
shelved).

Jackie helps Yuen Sui Tien

PLOT:

Hwang Jang Lee - the greatest kicker in Kung Fu - plays Lord Sheng Kuan(Eagle
Claw master) and who is eager to destroy the Snake Fist fighters. One
of his targets is Yuen Siu Tien (Yuen Woo Ping's dad), who plays a genre
defining role as Pai Cheng-Cheh. Jackie plays the punch bag at the local
Kung Fu school but befriends Yuen Siu Tien by trying to help him in a
fight and is taught the Snake style so he can stand up for himself. Dean
Shek also plays a seminal role as the cowardly wimp of a Kung Fu teacher
who enjoys making Jackie's life a misery. The end result is lots of very
very cool fights including many animal styles (snake, eagle, cat, mantis),
arguably some of the best animal fighting on celluloid ever? Jackie has
a classic fight at the end with Hwang Jang Lee and saves the Snake Fist
by combining it with his Cat's Claw!

Jackie learns the Snake Fist

Mmm...rice

FILM:

This film absolutely rocks and has some of the most graceful and memorable
fighting I can remember. I think it is when Jackie goes to fight the Mantis
master (Tino Wong) that your jaw really begins to drop and the realisation
that you are seeing something truly exceptional begins to dawn. Unlike
most of his contemporaries from Bruce to Gordon Liu, they all fought with
a stony face or with anger and rage, but here we see Jackie fighting with
a chirpy grin and youthful exuberance, a wonderful tonic! On top of the
regular and magical fight scenes, we also witness a slap-stick style present
pretty much throughout. Although many Hong Kong experts will go: "Well
actually there was comedy in this earlier movie...." or "this
movie was the first to have slapstick...", I have yet to see a movie
which such a consistent level of 'goofy' humour. You can tell everyone
is enjoying themselves and a really light-hearted atmosphere runs throughout.

Jackie's relationship with Yuen Siu Tien (old master and young and troublesome
student) is also important as this spawned hundreds of similar movies
that flooded the HK market for 7-8 years after this was released (Magnificent
Butcher, Drunken Master, Mystery of Chess Boxing, Knockabout, Drunken
Tai-Chi etc etc etc). To note the final, climactic fight scene, HJL and
Jackie let rip in a sensational end fight, with some breath taking kicks,
and one of Jackie's teeth being knocked out (for real!). I think this
fight is just slightly eclipsed by Jackie's next movie when he takes on
HJL in Drunken Master, but this is not far off, and really showcases Yuen
Woo Ping's talent as an action (and comedy) director. Did I also mention
loads of cool training sequences?

Painful training sequence!!!

The Mantis Master feels the force of Jackie's Snake Fist

DISC:

This is one of the early HKL titles, and it pretty well done, the frame
has been reduced from 2.35:1 to 16:9 which is anamorphic widescreen, which
is a shame. The picture is very acceptable, but far from perfect and the
dual language feature is always welcome. The cat vs. cobra fight (the
actual animals, not styles) was cut by the BBFC and it seems that the
cat won (by a T.K.O in Round 5). The other features are standard for HKL
- trailers, interview, biography, filmography - but we must not forget
this is a very high standard that HKL have set and we are eternally grateful.

OVERALL:

Absolute classic, really good fun and delightfully amusing. However the
slapstick is complemented with some of the greatest martial artists showing
off how it should be done (look for a Fung Hark-on cameo). Furthermore,
some of the classic Kung Fu roles of the late seventies are truly established
here, by Jackie, Yuen Siu Tien, Dean Shek and Hwang Jang Lee. This film
is possibly over looked by many due to the prominence of Drunken Master,
but although I personally prefer Drunken Master it is a photo finish and
both should be watched regularly!